Man falls from crane during police standoff

UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas (AP) — A man who had been holed up in a 150-foot construction crane on a college campus fell early Tuesday after an hours-long standoff with Dallas police.

Television footage showed the man hanging precariously from the crane on the campus of Southern Methodist University before falling. His condition wasn't immediately available.

The man spent a sweltering Monday afternoon on the crane that towers over the campus in University Park, a posh north Dallas enclave, after telling officers he was armed and threatened to shoot anyone who approached him.

Special tactics officers from the Dallas Police Department had been working with SMU campus police to manage the scene and try to talk him down from the crane.

The situation was first reported about 11:30 a.m. Monday.

SMU spokesman Brad Cheves said the campus was closed for the Memorial Day holiday and only "essential personnel and visitors" were on the grounds at the time.